Car is running fine, but have just moved so I decided to use a mobile mechanic. He rocked up and told my missus all the plugs have to be replaced with platinum ones so I told her over the phone - just do the minor service as I asked. He also mentioned the timing belt needs to be changed which is fair enough - but no way I'm trusting this guy after the plugs replacement

Anyone done this recently and can recommend a mechanic around glen waverley?

Platunum plugs are the norm because the rear bank is so hard to get too.

This US site is great to go for cheaper parts even with the delivery fee I saved close to $300 on parts for a Major timing belt service.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,make,MITSUBISHI,year,2002,model,DIAMANTE,vtype,U S
The Adelaide built Verada was exported to the US as the Diamante so all parts are interchangeable.

what got me was the fact that he said they ALL had to be platinum. From memory it was platinum only on the rear because as you said - hard to get to?

I dont really have the time (read motivation LOL) to do it myself.....would rather just get someone reliable, price is important too! and stands by their work :)

If you're keen for a trip to bayswater, ring mitsfix (madmagna) as his quality of work is always high and his pricing is good :) he has always been great for me and I'm sure many other Vic members would say the same :)

Platunum plugs are the norm because the rear bank is so hard to get too.

This US site is great to go for cheaper parts even with the delivery fee I saved close to $300 on parts for a Major timing belt service.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,make,MITSUBISHI,year,2002,model,DIAMANTE,vtype,U S
The Adelaide built Verada was exported to the US as the Diamante so all parts are interchangeable.

Rockauto is where I buy a lot of Magna parts from. If you are careful in your selection of parts, you can minimise postage. As the platinum NGKs cost about $2.50 each there, why wouldn't you put six in, and then just forget about spark plugs for the next 100,000 km?

Note to OP: 2002 magna, 93,000 km? Hope it's not the original cam belt, a lot of people don't understand that both time and distance are important, "5 years or 100,000 km", whichever comes first, according to the service schedule. A lot of people think this means "100,000 km no matter what, even if it takes 10 years or more." (Latter interpretation applies to my wife and her Lancer. lol)

"5 years or 100,000 km",

or 100,000kms ..... so changing the belt twice in 300,000kms really is pushing my luck.

or 100,000kms ..... so changing the belt twice in 300,000kms really is pushing my luck.

Possibly. Mitsu's recommended replacement schedule is really conservative, they don't want to be hit with law suits and repair costs for owners who destroy their engines if Mitsu recommended say 200,000 km or 10 year changes. I guess they are saying "we guarantee the belt won't break if you change it every 5 years or 100,000 km, whichever happens first." They are also saying "Go over this at your own peril." Not cheap repairing damage done by a belt breaking; valves, timing cover, etc.

Then again, belt technology has possibly improved since they built your car and wrote the manual, so perhaps 200,000 km or 10 year changes are possible.
Feel free to try it out - but not on my car!

Plenty of people have gone well over without trouble, This included my son at 138,000 km on an original belt now 8 years old and the TL I bought, at 136,000 km on the original belt also 8 years old. I only did 200 km in the TL before I changed the belt and I give my son periodic warnings that his car's belt is truly overdue for a change
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The TL belt was changed, original belt had not lost any teeth, looked undamaged on the edges, but some of the backing material was starting to come off and sticking to the front idler. So it was living on borrowed time. lol

Changing a belt at the recommended time is cheap peace of mind, to me.

yeah it is the original belt.....I keep losing track of time these days. Car practically sat in the garage for 5 years (a tank of fuel every 4 months) hence the low kms.

I'm tipping I should get it done sooner rather than later. Just had its service 2 months ago so was going to get it done around Christmas......
Looks like I better get onto it pretty much straight away

Is it a 1 day job or an overnighter? Anyone had it done at madmagna recently? Want to get an idea on cost

A workshop should be able to do it in one day, 9am drop off, 5 pm pickup. Keep one guy busy for most of the day though, so labour is expensive. Manual says 2.3 hours, but it takes me a lot longer than that, with smoko breaks, coffee breaks, lunch break, etc. lol
Ring around your area for quotes. Mal has his own website so check that too.

If you're keen for a trip to bayswater, ring mitsfix (madmagna) as his quality of work is always high and his pricing is good :) he has always been great for me and I'm sure many other Vic members would say the same :)

thats local enough for me :) looks like a phone call is in order Monday and a booking to be made